1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to devices for removing wheel studs. More specifically, the invention is a device for facilitating the removal of a broken stud from a vehicle hub.
2. Description of Related Art
The related art describes various tools and aids for removing broken studs from a hub, but none describes the present invention. There is a need for a simplified tool system for removing broken studs from hubs. The broken stud, if long, can be gripped by a hand tool and removed, but if short must have its sharp end flattened by grinding before attempting to drill a hole. Even then, the drilling procedure can damage the internal threading in the hub. It is difficult to keep the drill bit centered in order to drill a hole in the stud for insertion of an extractor. The present invention removes such problems. The related art will be discussed in the order of perceived relevance to the present invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,388,933 issued on Feb. 14, 1995, to David Dunbar describes a tool for centering a punch or drill on a stud""s broken face. For extracting a broken stud from an engine block without removing the covering exhaust manifold piece, a hexagonal nut is turned on a threaded shaft having a throughbore and a narrowed conical front portion which expands a polyurethane sleeve inserted in the bore of the manifold to fix the shaft in the manifold. A drill or center punch is inserted in the shaft to make a hole in the broken stud""s face for extraction by a screw extractor which was not identified further. The tool is distinguishable for requiring a threaded shaft with a throughbore screwed inside a hexagonal nut to expand a polyethylene sleeve.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,988,955 issued on Nov. 23, 1999, to John M. Curtis describes a lug nut taper trueing tool for racing automobile wheels to eliminate the irregular and inconsistent stamped holes in racing wheels. A wheel is clamped between two disks, wherein the top disk has five holes with steel bushings having a bottom flange and held in place by set screws. A cutting tool with a manual or machine driven cutting tool having a guide pin and an inclined carbide cutting edge is inserted from the side opposite the top disk to form a true lug nut taper. The tool and method is distinguishable for requiring a flanged steel bushing which must be secured by a set screw and the use of a pin guided cutting tool to form a bevelled edge in a lug nut hole.
Gt. Britain Patent Application No. 548,812 published on Oct. 26, 1942, for Charles E. Wurr describes a jig for facilitating drilling or punching operations by utilizing metal or synthetic resinous split or integral bushings as locating bushings having a thickness of 0.02 to 0.03 inch in either a planar metal or resinous jig. The jig is distinguishable for its irregular pattern of multiple holes and the use of split bushings.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,415,502 issued on May 16, 1995, to Bernard A. Dahlin describes a drill and tap guide comprising a block having an assortment of guide holes having different diameters to guide a drill or tap into the workpiece. The guide is distinguishable for requiring an assortment of guide holes having different diameters and lacking a bushing.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,544,987 issued on Aug. 13, 1996, to Gregory L. Gipson describes a removal tool for broken or seized inner Budd nuts mounted on a stud. The tool is based on a rectangular plate which has three apertures for positioning the plate over three Budd nuts with the damaged Budd nut centered. A pivoting bar is centered over the damaged Budd nut and extends from a pivot post to only one end having an adjusting knob. A drill is inserted into a guide over the damaged Budd nut to break it up. The Budd nut removal tool is distinguishable for requiring a guide plate having a pivoting bar.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,759,666 issued on Jul. 26, 1988, to Joseph J. Grab describes a drill guide for use in drilling a central bore in a portion of a broken-off bolt remaining in a threaded bore. A clamp tube carries inwardly-directed setscrews for attaching the clamp tube to a stud or bolt located near the broken bolt. An arm extends adjustably through the clamp tube, and setscrews in the clamp tube hold the arm in a desired position relative to the clamp tube. A drill guide holder mounted on the arm includes setscrews which hold a drill guide tube in position to receive and guide a drill to bore a hole in the broken bolt. The device is distinguishable for its required clamp tube, arm and drill guide structure.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,544,307 issued on Oct. 1, 1985, to Aaron B. Miller describes a drilling jig for flathead screw li pilot holes comprising a rigid foam plastic casting having three staggered holes with protrusions on the top surface and bevelled edges on the bottom surface. The device is distinguishable for its simplified structure.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,204,493 issued on Sep. 7, 1965, to Anton M. Severdia describes a standardized combination universal drill jig and milling fixture comprising a circular drill jig having provisions for accurately locating in a plurality of positions of adjustment bushings and liners for drilling, tapping, chamfering, counter-boring, spot-facing or reaming tools. The device is distinguishable for its multiplicity of apertures.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,651,951 issued on Sep. 15, 1953, to Herman G. Altenburger describes a universally adaptable drill jig comprising a rectangular plate having rows and columns of apertures. The drill jig is distinguishable for requiring a multiplicity of drilling apertures.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,008,436 issued on Jul. 16, 1935, to Grosvenor M. Cross describes a circular tap starter block comprising radiating ribs having a series of throughbores with increasing diameters. The device is distinguishable for its multiple drilling bores in radiating ribs of the circular block.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,546,834 issued on Aug. 20, 1996, to Jack Gable et al. describes a tool for removing frozen threaded fasteners, such as bud nuts, from studs with external threading without damaging the stud threads. The device has a V-shaped body with two bored flanges for attaching to adjacent studs by bud nuts. The center bore houses a hexagonal cap on a driver element having two sets of threads with different pitch, an engager element engaged with the larger threaded end of the driver element, and a collar sector and stop arrangement for limiting relative motion between the driver element and the engager element. The tool is distinguishable for its required driver and engager elements.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,969,245 issued on Nov. 13, 1990, to James C. Gevas describes a tire wheel mounting aid to reduce the difficulty in tire wheel alignment and mounting in stud/lug nut applications. The apparatus comprises a detachable two-part mount stud extension assembly comprising an extender and an adapter which is screwed onto a mount stud, thus extending the outward extension of the mount stud. The extender is a headed shaft. The adapter is a hollow cylinder having one internally threaded end for mounting on a stud and an opposite end having an extender alignment hole. The apparatus is distinguishable for its different structure.
None of the above inventions and patents, taken either singly or in combination, is seen to describe the instant invention as claimed.
The present invention is directed to a template guide for centering a drill in a broken stud and a method of removing the broken stud, comprising the utilization of a substantially semicircular template guide having at least three holes for attachment to fit and be secured to the studs on either side of the broken stud with their lug nuts. The template guide has a bushing within the center hole with an inside diameter adapted for guiding a drill bit to form a hole in the broken stud without the fear of damaging the internal threading in the hub hole. An extraction tool called an EASY-OUT(copyright) having a left-hand spiral is utilized with the aid of a wrench to remove the drilled broken stud from its hole. A new stud can be inserted without fear of damaging threads in the stud hole.
Since wheel hubs are made in different sizes, the template may be marketed as a kit containing templates of different sizes to accommodate the variety of wheel hubs commonly in use.
Accordingly, it is a principal object of the invention to provide a template guide.
It is another object of the invention to provide a template guide for removing broken studs from a vehicle hub.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a template guide having at least three holes with the center hole having a bushing with a hole having a diameter to guide a drill bit.
Still another object of the invention is to provide a method of removing a broken stud by utilizing a template guide with a bushing, drilling a hole in the broken stud, and removing the broken stud with a tool having a left-hand spiral, tapered point.
It is an object of the invention to provide improved elements and arrangements thereof in an apparatus for the purposes described which is inexpensive, dependable and fully effective in accomplishing its intended purposes.
These and other objects of the present invention will become readily apparent upon further review of the following specification and drawings.